Best Friends
by AngelicPretty
Summary: Chapter 1: Magnus gets frustrated that Dethklok hasn't come for Toki and Toki's life continues to fucking suck. Chapter 2: Dethklok is on their way to rescue Toki and Abigail, so Magnus decides to have one last night with him and makes it really count. (Torture/Gore warning)
1. Friends

He'd never had such a good friend before. At least, not still alive, anyway. And it had concerned him - everything he'd ever loved died. But he tried not to think of it. Maybe, just maybe, this one time, he'd finally have a friend who didn't constantly put him down. A friend that wouldn't just use him and betray his trust. He was a friend who had saved his life Toki had never been more grateful because for once, when he expressed this gratitude, it wasn't met with scathing sarcasm or rejection. That simple smile and "you're welcome" had given him a light in the darkness.

It was unimaginably refreshing having someone who he could trust and rely on. They hung out together more and more and Toki was thoroughly convinced this would be a new chapter in his life. He could finally have fun with someone who enjoyed his company and stayed away from the rest of the band, unlike a certain clown.

He loved it.

_But of course, _he thought to himself. _Of course._

He loved their friendship. He loved their time together. He loved being in Dethklok. He loved finally being happy.

But of course, everything he loved was taken from him.

And here he was, immobilized by both the psychological and physical pain that ravaged him so incessantly. Chained down like an animal by a collar to the cold, filthy stone floor, where only a single shaft of light barely reached. He'd fought so hard in the beginning to keep from falling back into the memories of his childhood, to fight tooth and nail against the resurfacing trauma. He had to be strong, just for a few days, just until his brothers would come save him and Abigail. But the days turned into weeks, and he finally understood that he'd never had the ability to be strong. Abigail had assumed that role instead. She comforted him through the day and held him through his nightmares. And truthfully, without her, he knew he would have been long gone by now. But he was too afraid to talk to her too much, to express his gratitude and his growing appreciation of her out of fear that she, too, would die. If he were to be alone once again...

They leaned against the jagged, rocky wall, the cold seeping into their spines as they attempted to sleep the miserable night away. Although they both were assaulted by chills, the cold of the wall felt soothing against their stab wounds, which were still raw and hot with infection, despite Magnus' attempt at sewing them up. Abigail's skin felt cooler against his, but he knew it was only because her fever wasn't as high. Still, they welcomed each other's warmth and company while they still could. It was only a matter of when Magnus would return with the nightly slop he expected them to eat and a needle in hand. If the nightmares and cold weren't enough, the fall of dusk always promised that tall figure would be looming in the doorway. And of course, just as Toki felt himself drifting off, a loud clang echoing through the hollow silence sent a jolt of dread through him like electricity. Any trace of sleepiness was erased. Abigail squeezed his hand tightly, her gaze downcast. She was afraid too, but he always left her alone.

Toki couldn't bring himself to look up. He remained focused on his shaking hands, the chains from his neck rattling slightly against each other as his breathing grew rapid. Each nearing footstep shook in his heart until a loud metal clang struck the ground before them. Even such an expected sound caused Toki to jump. It was the metal dog food bowl again, filled with scraps from God knows where. The deep indentation in the bowl's side served as a nightly reminder to their captor's _fondness_ for humiliation. The food was disgusting but as their only meal, after growing accustomed, they quickly came to welcome it. He felt his stomach growl at the sight, suddenly reminded of his terrible hunger. He knew he shouldn't have reacted at all - shouldn't even moved... but he did. His hand had barely risen from clutching his knife wound -

Fingers dug through his hair, violently jerking him up from the ground, nails scraping against his scalp. The back of his head was slammed into the wall.

"I didn't say you could eat, did I?"

Toki shook his head as faintly as he could under Magnus' grip. He felt blood tickle its way down his scalp. If not for being held up by his hair he would have collapsed to the ground. His muscles had begun to atrophy in their time of disuse and starvation, and the fear had rendered whatever he had remaining useless.

Magnus moved in closer.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you." His voice was a low, poisonous growl.

Toki, trembling, moved his eyes up from Magnus' boots, reluctantly meeting eye contact. That grey and cloudy eye had never bothered him before. As best friends, he never gave it a thought and never found it important enough to ask how it came to be. He had actually come to like it, at some point. It had looked cool in contrast to the grey streaks in his hair and it made him seem so much more _metal_.

But that was before. And now it terrified him, that unseeing eye. How it stared straight into him as if digging for more ways to psychologically torture and degrade him... as if his body weren't enough...

"Walk."

In his terror, Toki hadn't realized the collar around his neck had been unlocked. He cursed himself internally for reacting to the food. He knew all too well what was coming next.

Gathering all his strength, he attempted to step forward one foot at a time. Magnus' hand was still lodged firmly in his hair, keeping him close and guiding him like a dog.

Magnus came down usually for only two things; bringing them food and Toki's shots. But all too often he was bored or frustrated and wanted something more. Some days were better than others, but each time, he was taken from Abigail's side to a room connected to the one where they spent most of their days. Here, he could be "interrogated properly." Although it was a short distance, it was a harrowing walk for him, and each time he stumbled or slowed such as now, the grip in his hair tightened and his was body jerked forward.

Just as dark and decrepit, this room was no different than where they were usually chained, save for the blood that had dried on the walls and floor. Toki could still feel the sting of the wounds each bloodstain had dripped from.

Magnus violently threw Toki by his head into the room, slamming the door shut behind him. A clump of his filthy brown hair had been torn out and fell from Magnus' fingers. Toki tried to push himself up from the ground but before he realized what had happened, the tip of Magnus' boot dug its way straight into his knife wound, twisting and pushing without restraint. The pain sent him curling inwards, trying desperately to shield his stomach. He felt like he was about to puke.

"Why haven't they come for you yet?!" His scream had probably been loud enough for even Abigail to hear. At no response, he brought his foot down into Toki's ribcage. Toki had always done his best to not to make a sound at times like this, but he could not restrain the sharp cry that rang out simultaneously with the sound of cracking bone. He was drenched in a cold sweat now while his entire torso felt like it'd be lit ablaze. His rapid breaths became shallow as each gasp was now accompanied by a sharp and excruciating pain. His ribs had been broken.

"You and that bitch better hope they're not just wasting my time," he snarled, beginning to pace about the room as Toki writhed in pain, choking back tears. "Because if they are... Oh, I _know_ Ofdensen. The _fans_ may be looking for you, but he's a sneaky bastard. He can do anything, you know. He could make you disappear from the public mind just by replacing you." His voice had become coaxing, but just as venomous as ever. He let out a low chuckle as he turned and knelt over his "friend," lifting his face with a knobby hand. Tears welled at Toki's eyes, finally overflowing and pooling at the fingers that dug into his cheeks.

"Ohhh, Toki... You look _terrible_..." He almost sounded genuinely concerned, but there was laughter hidden in his words. As he wiped the still warm tears away with his thumb, the dirt and dust caked into Toki's face muddied and smeared against his skin. "Oh, that's right. You haven't had your insulin."

Magnus' nightly visits were always dreadful, but the nights he was late, such as tonight, Toki couldn't help but worry that he _wouldn't_ come at all. He detested this dependence and had grown to hate his body more and more with each injection. It always took him back to the day in camp where Magnus had saved his life, an eternal reminder of how foolish he'd been. Magnus removed his hand, reaching into his shirt's pocket for the syringe. Taking this moment to catch his breath, Toki instinctively attempted to curl back up, but the pain in his ribs shot through him like a gunshot.

"Stand up."

Toki could only freeze at the command, his body still quivering violently. There was no way he could sit up, let alone stand. Between the pain and hunger and shot that was hours late, he was surprised he was still even conscious. The back of his head still burned and ached, and as he clutched at his stab wound he realized it must have reopened at the earlier kick.

"I said _stand_."

He had no choice but to try.

He pushed his upper body up, head pounding and arms shaking under his weight, but everything felt like gelatin. Nausea washed over him a second time. It was impossible.

"I... I can'ts..." Speaking for the first time, his voice was dry, quiet, and sounded so far away.

"Then no shot."

Before Toki could attempt to stand again, Magnus closed in on him, knelt down to his level, and opened the syringe. His eyebrows cocked nonchalantly, as if saying Toki had brought this upon himself. He waved the needle before Toki's face in a taunting manner before pressing down on the plunger. Toki recoiled slightly as the insulin squirted into his face and eyes. It was pure dominance, pure humiliation, and Toki didn't know how much longer he could take... And now without the shot, he certainly wouldn't last much longer either way.

"Please..." He wiped at the medicine that now mixed with tears and dirt.

Magnus ignored him, throwing the empty syringe at his feet and turned away.

"Please..." _'You can't just leave me here alone...'_

"I bet you're wondering just as much as I am why they aren't coming for you."

Toki stared at the floor in silence. Of course he was. How could they leave him for so long...?

"You know, you really should be on my side. They don't give a flying fuck about you, and I bet you they already forgot that girl even exists. We should have known they'd be so fucking cowardly..." He turned around, gazing down at Toki with pitying eyes. "They watched you get stabbed and they didn't do a single thing about it."

A silence followed that was so heavy Toki could hear the faint tap of his tears rolling from his chin to the ground. It was the truth he'd been hiding from. Abigail had tried to keep his hopes up and convince him otherwise, but deep down he knew they'd been abandoned. Hearing this from Magnus sounded so much more honest, unlike the sugar-coated dreams Abigail provided. No one was coming for them.

"Who'd you like the most, huh? Skwisgaar?"

Toki felt his heart skip a beat.

"How does it feel? Knowing that he's probably been partying every day since you've been gone? Fucking chicks left and right, so high he can't even remember your name?"

Toki covered his ears, vigorously shaking his head despite the horrendous dizziness it caused.

"No! He-! They ams not likes that!"

"But you know they are. You know better than _me _ that they are." He let out a dark laugh and his eyes narrowed. "Maybe we should have taken him instead. You can't replace the world's fastest guitar player as easily. But _you_..."

It was true, wasn't it? Everyone in the band was the best at what they did, otherwise they wouldn't still be there. But he was so pointless he wasn't even necessary to replace. If they wanted to, Skwisgaar could take care of all the rhythm parts. He already rerecorded Toki's parts anyway when he fucked them up too bad. In fact, once he'd been so mad he yelled something about always wanting to be a one-guitar band, but Toki hadn't taken him seriously. He had had too much faith and trust in people.

"Have you ever wondered how many lives they've ruined? Trust me, they belong in prison. "

"_Trust you?_" It had accidentally slipped and Toki regretted it immediately. Before he could even look up to see if he'd struck a nerve, an incredible pain shot into his right hand, forcing a scream from the pit of his stomach. Magnus had stomped down on it with as much force as the earlier kick, but now dug and twisted his heel into it mockingly.

"Yes. Trust me like you did before." Lifting his foot, he knelt down again with judging eyes at the poor, miserable creature that now grasped at his raw and bloody hand. "You're just lucky the one you fret with wasn't as close."

A rough, calloused hand closed in on Toki's neck. Through tear-blurred vision he could see the dirt caked under short chipped nails. There was a terrible pressure around his throat, pushing his Adam's apple in and blocking any of his shallow breaths. He clawed at the crushing grip in futility until Magnus had had enough. He was violently pushed back down on to the cold ground. His spine, which was lately more pronounced than ever, took the brunt of the impact, knocking out whatever air remained in his lungs. Completely immobile, he was now straddled by the man he once considered his best friend, whose two bloodthirsty hands grasped at his neck. Toki stared up into darkness, blinded by the sheer panic of asphyxiation and pain. How he longed for his insulin shot. They were the only things that brought him any sort of physical relief these days, and he would take whatever relief he could get no matter how small... Magnus was screaming something again, but Toki couldn't understand a word.

Yes, any sort of relief would be fine.

_'Hvorfor kan han ikke bare drepe meg allerede.'_

"Vær så snill." He mouthed the words. It was all he could manage.

And suddenly, the hands were lifted from his throat. Air came rushing into his lungs and he began to choke and cough. Chest heaving, he tried to twist around, but both his broken ribs and the man pinning him down prevented all movement in the slightest. Toki flinched as Magnus reached towards his face once again, but was caught off guard as he gently cupped his face. His thumb traced along Toki's wet, tear-stained cheekbones and sunken in cheeks to the heavy bags under his eyes and finally to his lips. He was still violently trembling but for the briefest of moments, it almost felt comforting. Mentally and physically exhausted, his eyelids drooped until they finally fell shut. But they hadn't even been closed for a full second before he felt something enter his mouth. Opening only halfway, he saw that Magnus had shoved his thumb into his mouth and was glaring down at him expectantly.

"You don't actually want to die and I don't need you dead. So obey."

Toki stared up through half-lidded eyes, too deep in a daze to understand. He felt Magnus roughly push down on his tongue.

"Suck."

Toki obeyed.

Wasn't it easier this way? To just turn off and do what he was told... If he just obeyed, he wouldn't be subjected to near as much torture. He sucked and swallowed and licked. His tears had run dry. The taste of salt and dirt had initially filled his mouth, but as he continued on he could no longer taste anything on Magnus' finger. Another wave of nausea struck him, this time, he assumed, from his newfound disgust with himself. He ignored it. What had Abigail said for moments like these? Think back to your happy place? Hah.

He no longer had a happy place. He'd been abandoned and betrayed and abused and beaten by the ones he loved more than anything in the world. If he were to fall, then at least let him fall into the disgusting, filthy reality where someone as disgusting and filthy as he belonged. There was no room in those perfect happy rainbow worlds for something so incredibly despicable as he.

Magnus removed his thumb creating a trail of saliva, and suddenly his lips were upon Toki's, ravenously meeting the other's still hungry mouth. The pain in his body was dulled now, and nothing else mattered. Toki's eyes remained closed as his uninjured hand reached up and caught itself in Magnus' hair, nails dragging lightly against his scalp as if in response to when Magnus had done the same at the beginning of this mess.

He imagined Skwisgaar.

This would have made him feel more vile if he any longer had the capacity to care. He imagined his hand running through long, straight golden locks instead of gnarled brown and grey ones. He imagined two beautiful blue eyes peering down at him with playful contempt instead of the sinister, mismatched ones that haunted his nightmares. He imagined the mouth that met his could speak to him in calming, familiar Swedish, and that it tasted of alcohol instead of cigarettes. He imagined it was Skwisgaar's billion dollar fingers that were undoing his pants now, pulling them down slightly, touching his thigh...

There was a sharp prick against inside of his thigh, but it felt like a drop in the ocean compared the pain of the rest of his body. He was only removed from his thoughts as Magnus broke for air and pulled away. Opening his eyes proved heartbreaking as his golden haired god reverted back into the demon he so much feared. There was a light clatter upon the stone floor, and Magnus finally stood. Toki's eyes drifted to the glint of metal in the darkness. It was a second syringe. He looked down to see his tattered pants still partially removed. A tiny bead of blood from the needle rested like a gorged flea against the white of paled skin. Magnus was still standing over him and gazing down with an expression so full of condescension and pity that Toki's shame felt palpable. Without a word, he turned and walked out of the room, his footsteps echoing hollowly against Toki's mind.

Gasping, dry sobs overcame him. He felt as if he were hyperventilating as he curled up again like a pillbug in dirt, pulling up his pants and clutching at his stab wound with trembling hands. His body shuddered over and over as his breathing alternated between groans and sobs. Self-loathing and revulsion violently washed over him like waves upon a shore.

He was drowning and no one was going to save him.

Shivering against the dark and empty night, he let out a whimper.

Toki Wartooth was alone again.


	2. Fangs

Toki knew he wasn't going to last much longer, but instead of wishing to be finally saved, he simply longed for death. He no longer had hopes. He merely existed in a cold, dark room flitting in and out of consciousness between Magnus's visits. Even Abigail's voice could no longer reach him.

The last time Magnus had given him extra attention, he'd been left in the interrogation room alone for hours, unable to breathe deeply, let alone stand. Too much adrenaline had been coursing through his body to allow him to lose consciousness, and his mind had been on fire from the new low he'd discovered he could reach. At some point, he'd partially blacked out, but he could remember the sound of boots against the tile, the warmth of another body, the sensation of floating... And then he woke up, back in his spot next to Abigail, chained to the ground by his neck. She had left him some 'food,' but bile rose in his burning, aching throat at the thought of eating. She gently urged him to eat, but her words fell on deaf ears, so, unsure of what else to do, Abigail tried her best to help mend his wounds. Toki wanted to push her away - the last thing he wanted was to be touched - but he could not summon the energy or willpower to do so.

Since then, days passed in blurs and nights he tried to block out altogether. But, through the uncontrollable chills of his fever and haziness of his mind, he could sometimes feel a cool hand touching his forehead, and on the occasion could even hear Abigail singing. Lately, she seemed to sing more often at night, shortly after his shot was done and Magnus had gone, doing nothing more. He enjoyed her voice and found it calmed him after the Pavlovian-triggered anxiety at the simple creak of the door.

Tonight, sleeping soundly, he was spared this anxiety as the door opened. Abigail exhaled slowly, straightening up against the wall carefully; Toki's head rest in her lap. She didn't want him to wake up.

He walked slowly, as he usually did, almost as if he hated his nightly tasks. There was always that thick air of condescension about him, always looking down at them through leering eyes. But tonight, Abigail felt something was off and worry grew in the pit of her stomach. Masked by the darkness, he stopped a few feet before them. The glow of a cigarette at his lips cast an eerie light upon his thin face, almost illuminating his blind eye with the glow of a predator in the dark. There was nothing in his hands.

"No food tonight." His voice was rough, but sounded slightly drained of his usual sadistic vigor. Abigail hated how he talked to them as if he still considered them human. She would have been perfectly fine if she never had to hear him speak again.

"And his shot?"

"No shot either."

"Then why are you even here?" Although she knew the answer, Abigail raised her voice in defiance. She was growing tired of staying quiet, and even if her words provoked him, she'd gladly take Toki's place at this point. Another night of torture would likely kill him while she had hardly been touched in comparison.

Magnus raised an eyebrow at her sudden confidence. There'd always been this burning behind her eyes, but she'd always seemed to be holding back.

"I hardly think I have to tell you."

"You can't keep doing this to him. You say don't want him dead, but he's had an untreated concussion for days!"

"It doesn't matter what I do anymore. Things finally change tonight. You should be happy." A look of remorse flashed through his eyes before his expression fell. "They're on their way."

Abigail's eyes widened, unsure of how to respond. There was no way he was telling the truth. Not after all this.

"I'm not surprised you don't believe me. I barely believe it myself." He took a long drag of his cigarette and stepped into their bit of moonlight. "I just wanted to spend one last night with my friend here." Exhaling the smoke into her face, he knelt in front of them and gazed down at Toki who hadn't even twitched in the slightest.

"Please don't-" Abigail began to plead, but Magnus was already peeling him away from her, setting him upright against the wall, taking his chin in hand and turning his face left and right in examination. His face had gone relatively unmarred, and he had plans to change that. Even if they managed to save him, Magnus would leave his mark for the world to see. Suddenly, Toki's eyes stirred, lids lifting slowly. His pupils were dilated as he stared at nothing. Still mostly asleep, his eyes closed again. Powerless, Abigail prayed he'd stay unconscious just long enough to bore Magnus into leaving.

"It's time to wake up." Magnus took the cigarette from his lips, flicked the ash in Toki's sleeping face, and twisted the butt into his inner arm. Toki's eyes tore open and he tried to jerk his arm away at the sudden searing pain, but Magnus had caught his wrist. Finally wide awake, Toki managed to process the figure before him. His stomach dropped as he was ripped from the hazy half-consciousness he'd been spending his days in. Reality still existed; the burn of the cigarette pressed into his skin a second time gave him no doubts.

His face twisted in a cringe as he tried to shake his heavy head. _Not again_, he begged, _not again_. He thought he was speaking but his jaw was locked as he tried not to cry out in pain. He'd just managed to cope with the self-hatred and disgust with himself Magnus had inflicted upon the last time and now he'd be thrown right back into it.

"Please!" Abigail had had enough. "Just use me instead! He won't survive this time!"

She had barely grasped his shoulder before he caught her by the arm and forced her towards him, his fingers now gripping her face with crushing force. The collar around her neck prevented him from grabbing what he wanted.

"_Don't fucking touch me_." He let his nails carve into her skin as he tightened his grip. "We never really needed you anyway." He shoved her back viciously, the short chain pulling taut at her neck as she hit the ground hard. She coughed and struggled to sit up, but no longer interested in her in the least, Magnus returned his attention to the trembling Toki. He crushed the fallen cigarette underfoot and knelt back down. "Since she seems so insistent on being a part of this, I guess we can let her watch this time," he said in a low voice, unlocking Toki's collar. "You'd love that, wouldn't you? Having someone else see how pathetic you can get..." He knew exactly where to hit. The last thing Toki wanted was someone to see him like he was last time. He didn't know how he could ever face anyone again if they saw how revolting, wretched, and weak he'd been, caving under Magnus' orders and using Skwisgaar's memory as an escape...

Magnus' fingers went through Toki's dirty hair again, pulling at his scabbed-over scalp until he was looking directly up at him, neck bent back at a sharp and uncomfortable angle. "Stand."

Despite his fear, Toki's eyes narrowed incredulously, almost daring to ask 'Haven't we been over this before?' He was demanding the impossible.

Magnus raised his eyebrows and shrugged at Toki's reaction. "Well, you're gonna want to try." He wrapped his hand in Toki's hair for a better grip and forcefully pulled him to his feet. Grimacing, Toki struggled to ground himself against the wall but the stabbing pain in his ribs returned with a vengeance. Sitting still and breathing minimally had helped reduce the pain, but whenever he stretched out it felt as if the broken bone jabbed into his lungs, and even though he'd lost a severe amount of weight, his knees shook under the heaviness of his body and his ankles felt almost non-existent. He would have immediately fallen back down if Magnus hadn't been supporting him - a familiar situation.

Toki exhaled slowly and carefully to minimize the pain. Again, he had no choice in this matter. While malnutrition had left them incredibly weak, and he and Abigail hadn't been able to fully stand, let alone walk while chained down, he knew his legs could work if he forced them. More than anything in his battered body, his head hurt the most by far, so if standing and walking was what it was going to take to make Magnus let go of his pounding head, he was going to try his damn best.

As he had managed to find some sort of balance, Magnus finally let go, allowing Toki to push himself from the wall and stand on his own. His legs still trembled and his chest burned but he was standing. A faint sense of pride grew inside him - something he forgot he could even feel - but taking a shaky step forward he realized just how lightheaded and dizzy he was. He'd been sleeping entire days away and had grown accustomed to hardly moving for days on end.

But now he was standing and technically even walking... Eyes flickered to the rusty door he and Abigail had spent much of their early days monitoring. In the beginning they'd watch it obsessively, expecting the band, or even Klokateers, to bust it down with a single kick and whisk them away, back into sunlight. But after so long, the door no longer represented hope. The only thing that stepped over the threshold was their captor, night after night, and soon the childish optimism had been replaced with a heavy reality - even unchained, making a run for it would spell certain death. A man more bloodthirsty than Magnus sat just out that door and up the stairs, surrounded by his legions of zombie-like followers. There was no way they could escape on their own.

"To that broken beam," Magnus ordered, tearing Toki from his wishful thoughts. Magnus watched him with the faintest smile on his lips, as if his struggling victim were a circus animal performing tricks especially for him.

A single glance at the wooden pillar sent a feeling of dread through his shaking body. It was the perfect distance for Abigail to see everything. Magnus had known what he wanted to do, had probably been deciding on the little details of it all day, but Toki could not think of what else could be done to him, save finally ending his life. Still, Magnus would find a way, and Toki was absolutely certain of two things: It would be agonizing and it would be humiliating.

Toki quickly turned to look back at Abigail, who now sat back against their wall. Her eyes were still pleading but she'd fallen silent out of fear her words would spur his torture further. Finding no comfort in the fact that Abigail would witness everything this time, Toki chanced a plea of his own.

"Abigail, please don'ts watch."

And with that, he was on the ground, knocked violently down by a force at the back of his neck. The falling sensation was quickly replaced by burning in his hands and knees. Small rocks and debris embedded themselves into the skin of his palms on impact. His elbows gave out within the second he had contact with the ground, and soon the sting of rocks and splinters in his skin paled against the impact of his broken ribs and chin hitting the ground, his teeth coming up hard against his tongue. The force sent a reverberating pain through his jaw while the tang of blood filled his mouth. He tried to push himself up out of instinct but something hard met the back of his head, sending his face back against floor. There was an audible crunch as his nose hit the ground first, and as he tried to turn his head to the side to take the pressure off of it, there was another powerful blow to the back of his head. This time, the left side of his face hit the floor under the weight and Toki couldn't help but let out a cry - something sharp had pierced into his closed eye.

Everything had happened so fast but as he lay motionless on the floor, listening to the echo of boots circling him like a wolf around prey, what had just happened became obvious. Dizzy and aching, blood gushing from his nose and dripping from his mouth, Toki dared not push himself up again. Magnus wanted him down, so he would stay down. Instead he slowly brought a hand up to his eye, carefully running a finger over his eyelid. Just brushing against the bit of debris that stuck out burned. Swallowing hard, Toki gripped it with his nails and tugged. It came out surprisingly quickly and painlessly. Rolling the object between his fingers, Toki examined what appeared to be a broken fragment of the tile that covered the walls. Though it was small, it had cut through his eyelid and entered the cornea. How much damage it had done, he wasn't sure, but he couldn't will his eye open either way. The injured eyelid quivered, involuntarily plastered shut as his eye streamed tears as if to flush out the irritation. Exhaling, he closed his other eye and waited within his pounding head for Magnus to tell him what to do.

The footsteps finally closed in on him and he felt his jaw being grasped firmly, turning his head to look upwards.

"I didn't say you could speak, did I?"

Toki had forgotten he'd even spoken at all. He shook his head faintly, eyes still shut.

"Look at me."

Toki struggled to obey, but his left eye refused to comply. The more it bled, the more it burned, and the more it burned, the more furiously bloodied tears streamed down his cheek. Growing impatient, Magnus reached down and pried the eye open, letting out a dark laugh at the damage. Toki's iris had been torn, causing the black of the underlying dilated pupil to peak out from the edges. A wave of relief washed over Toki upon finding he could still see through it. Magnus let it go roughly, disappointed.

"Too bad. Could have ended up like mine. Wouldn't that be nice? Every time you look in a mirror you'd be reminded of me." His mouth twisted into a smile as reached down to his belt with a hand. "Maybe I should finish the job while I still have the chance." The cold tip of a knife suddenly met his lower eyelid, pressing into it softly but threateningly. "Do you want to keep it, or should I just cut it out?"

Knowing he still was not allowed to speak, Toki simply shook his head again, grimacing in fear.

"Then," he continued, sheathing the knife, "you should do what I tell you to. And I told you to fucking _walk_." He rose to his feet, pulling Toki up by his shirt. Toki gasped sharply as the weight of his body pressed into his ribs by the taut fabric and, finding his feet, he stumbled forward in an endeavor to stand again. It felt as if his head were screaming at him and the world spun around and around as he tried to regain his balance. His body was threatening to faint but he fought desperately against it, fueled by the fear he would awake to his eye being gouged out. Putting one foot in front of the other yet again, he clutched his head, eyes planted on the finish line. With each step he took, the heavy gush of blood that pooled together from his nose and mouth dripped from his chin. He hadn't realized he'd been drooling in order to avoid swallowing or choking on the blood from his deeply cut tongue.

Although it was not far, with unconsciousness trying to pull him under, the walk stripped him of every ounce of energy. His back slammed into the wooden beam upon reaching it for support and, letting out the breath he'd been holding in, broke out into heavy panting. He clutched his chest, feeling his heartbeat accelerate through numbing fingertips – he couldn't slow his breathing. His knees finally gave out and Toki slid down the beam to the ground. He could hardly feel the pain in his ribs through the hyperventilation. His whole body was beginning to tingle and even as Magnus slowly approached all he could focus on was keeping conscious. Swallowing a mouthful of blood and spit, he wiped at his nose and mouth with the back of his hand in an effort to keep his hands moving, feeling, anything to shake his body's desire to shut down.

"Toki!" Magnus turned to look back at Abigail who had crawled out as far as the chain would allow. "Don't give up! They're coming! They're coming to save us!" She was frantic, yelling louder than she had since they'd been imprisoned. She wasn't sure if she believed it herself but she had to try to keep Toki together.

Magnus gave a low, deep laugh and shook his head with a shrug. "Are you really going to believe her? After she kept telling you it'll get better?" He gave a pitying smile as he knelt down to Toki's level, a knee planted on either side of Toki's hips. Magnus cupped his face almost comfortingly before pressing a thumb against Toki's injured eye, a thin smile spread over his lips as Toki jerked his head to the side, still rapidly gasping for breath. "Did it _ever_ get better, Toki?"

Toki's fingers twisted into the fabric of his shirt as a sinking feeling washed over him. No. Every single day it got worse. Why would it ever get better? Toki suddenly remembered the realization he'd had last time Magnus tortured him. Magnus told the truth because he no longer had any reason to lie but Abigail's words were all sugar-coated lies to keep him from giving up. Was she that desperate to keep him alive and suffering?

"They _are_ coming! They're on their way right now, Toki! You've got to believe me! Magnus told me himself!" Abigail wasn't going to go down without a fight.

"All you are is lucky…" Magnus muttered, growing agitated with Abigail's cries. "Even if they come for you… Even if they come for you I'll make sure you're useless!" He ripped Toki's hand from his chest, the other from his side, and pinned them up together over Toki's head. His wrists had grown so thin from emaciation that both fit perfectly under a single of Magnus' hands. He held them together at the wrist, hands overlapping each other, pressed so hard against the beam it cut off the circulation.

"All you are is lucky! You're lucky that they even needed a replacement! You're lucky they wanted you! You're lucky you haven't died yet!" Toki noticed the glint of metal as Magnus reached for the side of his belt with his free hand, still screaming. "And you're lucky they're actually coming for you after all!" A knife finally came into full view and Toki realized what was going to happen if he didn't free his hands. "Now let's see if you're fucking lucky enough to ever play again!"

He struggled against Magnus' grip violently and suddenly his own scream tore through the air. An incredible searing pain in his right hand ripped through him like electricity. Out of instinct he tried to bring it to his chest, to press down on the pain to lessen it, but his attempt to jerk it inwards only met with pressure and fire. As he expected, his hand had been pinned to the wooden beam, supported only by Magnus's knife.

"Look at you, saving your fretting hand as if it'd do you any good..." His voice was low again but his anger lingered in the air.

Confused, Toki looked down – his left hand had actually managed to break free.

Magnus wiggled the knife in the wood, disappointed, and watched the blood trickle down Toki's arm. He couldn't remove the knife to give it another shot or Toki would bleed out too early, and Magnus still hadn't done anything to him yet.

The last hope Toki didn't know he still had finally left him. Though the knife cut through vertically, there was simply no chance tendons or nerves hadn't been severed. The pain was still burning too furiously for him to tell how much damage had been done but he was certain there would be no saving it. Skwisgaar had told him a thousand times to always be careful with his hands, and had often gone at length explaining that the smallest things could ruin his guitar playing career. This was certainly one of them. Even if he was rescued tonight, he would be even more useless to them than he already was.

The death of that invisible hope stripped him from composure, and without regard to how Magnus would react, he finally let out a wailing plea.

"Kill me! Just kill me! Please, kill me!" He couldn't go back to the band now, even if Magnus and the Assassin let him walk right out the door. "Please... You can do anythings you wants to my body, I don'ts care! Just lets me die first..." He was sobbing uncontrollably, still hardly able to breathe. He felt the sickening tickle of a blood clot slipping from his nose as snot pushed it down his lips. He looked and felt disgusting in every imaginable way. He was filthy and revolting straight to the core. How could he face anyone again after this?

Beyond entertained and unbothered by Toki's outburst for once, Magnus grinned sadistically. "_Toki_, if you really wanted to die, you would have bitten your tongue off weeks ago." Magnus rose to his feet, towering over his victim and stepping on his free hand. Trapped under a maniac gaze, locked beneath Magnus' stance, and hand pinned to the wood, Toki was sequestered like an insect on display. And it made Magnus feel _incredible. _"Were you just a coward? Or were you too _stupid_ to know you could do that?" The sole of his boot now pressed against Toki's pounding forehead, lightly pressing his head back against the beam. All of his weight was held down on Toki's free hand, crushing his knuckles against the concrete below. "You could do it now, if you wanted. I won't stop you."

Without a second thought, Toki opened his mouth and pushed his tongue as far out as he could. He laughed internally at the irony as he realized the cut on it had just stopped bleeding. It was in this second of hesitation, just before he could clamp his jaw with all the energy he had left, that he heard Magnus laugh out a _"just kidding"_ and his heel met Toki's nose with devastating force. If his nose hadn't been broken before, it was now – but this was not even a concern to him as the back of his head cracked into the beam once more. He only remembered the shock and the sound of the impact before darkness finally sucked him under.

* * *

It was beautifully calm and peaceful and Toki felt nothing for the briefest of moments. But then his mind was back at work, and like a tiny flame flickering alive in the darkness, an idea came to him. It was an idea born of pure desperation and the consequences were perhaps more than he could bear, but he was so weary of this mental and physical torture. He was tired of being silenced. He'd always had an incredible amount of pride and everyone had come to know that little Toki had fangs when backed in a corner.

And he'd been backed in a corner for far too long.

Nothing else mattered now than bringing an end to this pain and humiliation. He could kill himself later if he still wanted to… But right now, Toki knew he had two simple options: he could continue doing nothing, or he could do something. In the black stillness of his mind, that something grew into a plan so repulsive… but perfect.

In their time together, Toki had come to learn a few things about Magnus.

* * *

He could hear Abigail frantically crying out his name, followed shortly by a calmer "See? He's still alive."

Toki blinked a few times, looking up hazily at Magnus. It was hard to see from his injured eye. It still stung furiously and had difficulty processing his surroundings. But his inability to see or react well would not hinder his planned performance. If he could just play his cards right, it would help him seem all the more genuine.

"Skwisgaar...?"

Magnus recoiled in disgust at the name, but a smile quickly slithered its way onto his mouth, eyes narrowing in realization. Perhaps he'd hit his head one too many times.

Toki pushed forward with his upper body, both hands still incapacitated. He looked up through a glassy, yearning gaze at Magnus and he felt himself smile so brightly his broken nose protested in pain. "Skwisgaar!"

"Yeah, I'm Skwisgaar," Magnus muttered through an excited smirk, lowering himself back down to his knees, still straddling Toki. He kept his knee pressing firmly down on Toki's hand; he didn't want him to have any control whatsoever.

At this, Toki moved as close as his pinned hands would allow and met his lips with Magnus' in desperation. Pride sparked up in Toki's chest when he felt the initial shock in Magnus' reaction, but in seconds, he was roughly pushed back against the beam as Magnus assumed control again.

Soon, the excitement from taking Magnus by surprise faded and his self-hatred flared up in its place. He was selling his dignity again, and like before, it was too easy to close his eyes and give in to true delirium so that he could imagine he was with Skwisgaar instead. And for a split second, Toki almost believed his own demented fabrications again. But the sheer pain that shredded through his body and Magnus' forceful, violent movements reminded him of the truth. Skwisgaar would never do this to him.

His tongue fought violently against Toki's, nearly choking him at moments. Magnus ran his teeth over Toki's tongue, searching for the earlier laceration and biting into it, reopening the cut. His mouth filled with blood again, which Magnus eagerly swallowed. His hands slipped up Toki's shirt and Toki felt his skin crawl. Rough, dry fingers dragged down his ribs, pressing against his giant purple bruises, each bone fracture. As he tensed and writhed at the painful contact, he could feel the smile widen in Magnus' kisses. He was absolutely enthralled by the fact that he'd caused this. He could feel a bone fracture through the skin. If he wanted to, he could easily finish the job and snap the fracture straight into Toki's lung, and he certainly considered it, but he had other plans.

His mouth stayed for far too long, and Toki frantically tried to break away for air, but Magnus would not let up until _he_ needed to breathe. His hyperventilation threatened to return and he gasped for air in the fractions of the seconds that he could, breathing in the blood and the cigarette flavored saliva that pooled in the back of his throat. In his panic, he hadn't realized Magnus' fingers had trailed to his knife wound. Magnus finally broke away, forehead still pressed against Toki's and breathing heavily through a malicious, excited smile. He stared straight into Toki's eyes as he slid a finger under the first poorly done stitch. Horror welled up inside of Toki as he whimpered through his rapid and shallow breaths. He wanted to beg Magnus to stop, but his plan was at stake. Pathetic, terrified whimpering was all he could manage as Magnus gave a low chuckle and slowly pulled up on the stitch.

Toki cried out under the pain through a clenched jaw, skewered hand tugging against the blade as he lurched forward. Blood trickled down his stomach as the thread tore through the skin. Toki cringed, trying to escape Magnus' cold, piercing stare as his finger worked its way under the second stitch and tore it out just as slowly.

He hadn't anticipated what came next.

Just as Toki prepared himself to face the removal of the entire row of stitches, a finger entered the freshly opened wound. There was a horrible pressure and an even worse burn as Magnus pushed forward past the severed layers of fat and muscle, tearing back apart what had partially healed. Toki gasped violently and reeled back, slamming his spine into the beam. His muscles tensed as tightly as they could as he tried to brace himself, but it did nothing but sharpen the pain. And then Magnus entered a second finger, moving them in a scissoring motion, reopening the infected wound further. All night Toki's body had been on fire, but now he broke out into a cold, clammy sweat as vicious shudders assaulted him. Desperate to protect his stomach, his uninjured hand struggled under the weight of Magnus' knee to no avail.

"Look at me." The words were like thunder against the air that had only been filled with screams and gasps. When Toki did not respond, he forced his fingers deeper. The edge of his index finger brushed against the base of Toki's ribcage. "_Look at me_." Magnus was enraptured at the touch of raw bone and _needed_ Toki to look him dead in the eyes while he violated him from the inside by means worse than a simple, clean knifing…

Toki had to take control back. He had to at least try to keep his plan together. Toki opened his eyes and gazed back into that terrifying mismatched pair with as much longing as he could pour out from his broken mind and body.

"_Skwisgaar_," he near enough moaned the word, "_Jeg vil ha deg_."

It sent Magnus over the edge. He hadn't realized how goddamn _hard_ he was until those words nearly made him lose himself. Unable to take it anymore, he lowered himself onto Toki's lap, his weight now in his shins rather than his knees. This finally allowed Toki's uninjured hand to break free, but Magnus didn't give a shit about it now. The way Toki wrapped it around the back of his neck, pulling him down, closer, and ghosting his bloodied lips along his collarbone… He _wanted_ his hand free. Just as Toki had hoped.

Though Magnus was surprised Toki was still delirious after all he'd done, he didn't mind at all. He would more than gladly take advantage of Toki's delusions, and he would gladly, if even for a moment, become the world's fastest, most beloved guitarist. And if even for a moment, he would gladly become someone else entirely – someone who was _wanted_ more than anything. Distracted by Toki's sudden fervor and by his thoughts, Magnus no longer cared about the knife wound. He removed his fingers and, breaking away momentarily from Toki's surprisingly passionate kisses, shoved them into Toki's mouth. Their foreheads still touched, and Toki could not escape the unexpectedly languished look in his eyes. The fingers slid further down his tongue. Toki had no choice but to comply, but his stomach churned all the same.

Toki tried desperately not to gag on the taste of his own infected body fluids as Magnus pushed into his mouth even more violently than his wound. Instead, he did just as he had before – sucking them clean and running his fingers through the sweaty roots of his oppressor's hair. Nausea welled up in the pit of his stomach, and Toki was certain he was going to puke, but as Magnus removed his fingers he swallowed hard, willing himself to keep it down. He was reaching the end of his endurance. It was either now or never. The plan he had given up his dignity for was working - his left hand was free and Magnus enjoyed that it was. Whether this plan would work or not was entirely unforeseeable, but the consequences didn't scare him. He was certain things couldn't get much worse than this. He just had to try.

"_Vil ha deg..._" he repeated, brushing his quivering fingertips down Magnus' cheekbones, trailing down his ever exposed chest. Magnus' hair stood on end at the enticing touch, and although he didn't understand a single word of it, he knew this was how Toki would speak to Skwisgaar. It fueled his own delusions further and when Toki's fingers trailed lightly up the length of his cock through the stiff fabric of his jeans, Magnus shuddered in pure ecstasy.

His touch leaving all too soon, Toki's hand moved up to his belt buckle and tugged at it helplessly. While it was difficult with one hand, he could have undone it alone, but it was essential that Magnus did it himself. Seeing Magnus nearly crumble at his touch granted Toki a new hybrid of adrenaline and determination. "_Jeg skal..._" he began, even more provocatively and pleadingly than before, "_faen meg... drepe deg_."

"Oh, it was coming whether you wanted it or not," Magnus muttered through a licentious grin.

And when he looked down to undo his belt, the plan began to move like clockwork.

Toki's hand was free, and Magnus' attention was down at his pants, his own hands fumbling with excitement.

He had less than a second to act.

With all the strength he thought had abandoned him, Toki reached up for the knife, grabbed it firmly by the handle and tore it from wood and flesh. Magnus only had time to look up, eyes widening, as the blade was plunged into his chest down to the hilt. They both froze, Magnus in shock, but Toki in an overload of thoughts. His mind engulfed him. Over and over and over he stabbed Magnus, fifteen, twenty times, screaming, crying, swearing - but only in his mind. He no longer had the energy to move. It was done. Even Magnus' weight leaning into him, down on the knife, his hands wrapping around Toki's neck, being slammed back into the wooden beam one last time - nothing took him out of his thoughts. A pressure more ferocious than Magnus had ever exerted crushed his throat inwards; he had never injured to kill, but now...

"_You..._" Magnus' voice gurgled as blood gushed up his throat with every labored breath. With every pound of his hammering heart, blood pumped out of the wound, gushing down onto Toki's stomach. His aorta had been severed. The adrenaline was fading fast for Toki and all thoughts began to cut out as he suffocated, as his trachea began to collapse. This would be fine, he convinced himself. If he died now, everything would be fine. Hadn't he so desperately wanted to? He closed his eyes, not wanting his final sight to be Magnus' hatred filled, terrified expression.

Finally, the memories of happier days returned to him. Yes, there was no returning to the band now, even if they came for him. He would never be the same, never see them the same. Rainbows finally filled his mind once more. He even felt himself smile as the blackness killed the light.

But then the pressure lightened. Air choked back into his lungs without his permission and there was a sudden weight on his body. Toki unwillingly opened his eyes to see Magnus draped over him, limp. His blood ran cold.

"No..." His voice was barely even a whisper but it felt like he'd swallowed fire. "No, please..." He lifted Magnus' head, revealing a face plastered in horror, eyes still open and slightly rolled back, the stream of blood still dripping from his mouth. "No! Takes me with you!" He shook him violently. "Please!" As he shook him, more still-hot blood seeped onto Toki's already soaked torso. The hilt of the knife jabbed into his stomach under Magnus' weight, and the reality of everything finally came crashing down on him. The nausea returned, this time unrelentingly. Still trapped under Magnus' body, Toki could only lean over as he wretched violently, producing nothing but stomach acid, bile, and his own blood. Though his stomach kept heaving, there was nothing else to throw up. Body still rolling with convulsion and tearless sobs, he propped Magnus up against himself, slinging his head over his shoulder, and gripped the knife. He struggled at first but it came cleanly out with a wiggle. Dropping it at his side, he slid an arm under one of Magnus', his bleeding hand stroking the back of Magnus' head.

The physical torture had stopped but the torment remained. Minutes ago he'd imagined thrusting the blade into Magnus repeatedly, yet, despite everything that had been done to him – and everything that _would_ have been done to him - his naivety could not shake the image of Magnus as his friend. Toki never wanted him to die. He just wanted everything to stop.

"I'm so sorrys," he choked out. "It was the onlys way." He repeated this over and over, rocking back and forth as if to comfort the body in his arms. It was still warm but completely motionless.

Toki closed his eyes. The torn wound on his stomach screamed, his ribs ached, his eye burned. The hand that had been stabbed now felt icy as blood no longer reached his fingertips and he now was aware of the blood trickling down his neck from the busted back of his scalp. Every part of his body trembled and he could hardly see through the haze. As he slipped out of consciousness, he noticed the knife was in his hand once more. He closed his eyes and was met with a final thought:

He had killed something he'd loved again.


	3. Fate

Abigail tried her best to respect Toki's wishes. Just out of reach, there was nothing else she could do. Her fingers had glanced over a small rock, probably a piece of broken concrete from the torn down walls, and the temptation to pelt that monster with as many as she could reach fought against her better judgement. But she knew he wouldn't touch her. He was fueled by revenge and the best revenge on Abigail would be through Toki. Viciously, cruelly through Toki. She knocked the rock aside in helpless frustration, bringing her hands back up to ears and shutting her eyes. Toki's night terrors had been horrible, but the real thing shadowed them in comparison. Her hands barely muffled the screams and anguished pleas for mercy, for death, but her hands could do nothing to block out the crack of bone against wood and how it reverberated through the ground and walls, into her own body.

Still, she couldn't help but look back up upon hearing Toki's panicked, rapid breathing. He'd made it to the beam, but the everything it took to get there was nearly killing him. She had to call out to him hoping to keep his morale up, but of course, as she should have expected, her yelling only enraged Magnus further. Watching Toki struggling to rip his hands free, she watched in horror, unable to look away until the knife dug into the wood through Toki's palm. Immediately her stomach churned in guilt and she cursed herself for not staying silent. Closing her eyes and covering her ears again, she vowed not to say another word.

In time, another powerful crack rang out. She didn't move at first, but when the air became strangely quiet and still, she feared the worst. Reluctantly glancing up, her stomach dropped at a sight she'd never expected. Toki was either unconscious or dead - from her distance, Abigail couldn't tell if he was still breathing - and Magnus was on his knees again, this time with one between Toki's legs, pressing dangerously against his groin. Magnus had Toki's limp head in his grasp, a hand clutching at the roots of his hair, the other supporting it by the jawline. But it was Magnus' tongue that horrified Abigail as it slid up Toki's dirty, bloodied cheek and along the deep hollow of his eye. He licked the cut on Toki's eyelid before using his lips to kiss the eye open, running his tongue over the damaged cornea itself and pressing against the broken blood vessels of the sclera. His lips traced from the eye to his cheekbone, then moving to nestle behind his ear. Abigail could hear him mutter something into Toki's ear before nuzzling into Toki's hair and inhaling deeply, undoubtedly taking in and enjoying the smell of his sweat and unwashed filth. He smiled to himself and gave a quiet laugh, absolutely pleased with everything he'd done.

Abigail covered her mouth in horror, desperately trying not to cry out. It was clear now that Toki had been enduring things far worse than she'd imagined. Those nights he was taken away she'd only assumed led to torture. Toki, of course, never spoke of what Magnus did.

"Scream again." Magnus broke the tense silence, and Abigail nearly jumped out of her skin. She thought he'd forgotten about her in his depraved reverie. The fact that he knew she was watching everything disturbed her further. "Give me a reason to cut his eye out. You have no idea how badly I want to stick my tongue in there..." He locked eye contact with Abigail as he ran his tongue along Toki's half open eye again, this time through a shameless grin. "You could watch while I lick out his brains, _skull-fuck him_..."

Abigail shook her head and scowled in defiance, trying to push the imagery from her mind. She wouldn't let him get to her. He was all talk. He wanted Toki dead as much as she did.

"He's alive, right?" She tried to change the subject and keep up airs of confidence but her voice cracked. Talking casually to this sick fuck proved harder than she anticipated.

"Just takin' a little nap is all..." He stood, finally letting go of Toki and shifting his gaze to Abigail. "But we don't want him to die in his sleep. Why don't you try waking him up? Somehow I doubt _my_ voice will reach him."

Abigail glared up at Magnus. Never in her life had she hated anyone with such intensity. But the fact remained that Toki needed to wake up. The band was coming. He just needed to hang on a little longer.

She called out his name, quickly growing frantic the longer he sat there, slumped over, bleeding from his hand and nose and god knows where else. He was so pale his skin stood stark against the darkness of the room. It broke her heart to see him like this.

"You're done with him, aren't you?" She was growing tired of Magnus pacing around as she yelled in futility from a distance. "He can't keep going like this or he _will_ die! Just bring him to me! And go get him his goddamn insulin!" He approached her now, glowering down with gritted, bared teeth. Even as he grabbed her by her hair and cocked her head back sharply, she stared just as fiercely back.

"_You_ don't get to order _me_ around."

"I'm not afraid of a fucked up piece of _shit _like you."

Magnus' grip tightened at her scalp and he opened his mouth to perhaps utter some pathetic comeback when a sound behind them drew their attention back to Toki. He'd begun shifting slightly, coughing quietly, then lifted his hand to cover his injured eye. It probably felt even worse than before and he had no idea why.

"See? He's still alive." Magnus threw Abigail's head back roughly as he let go and turned on his heel, returning to the waking Toki. For the briefest of moments, she was beyond relieved to see him awaken, but her happiness shattered at the single word that fell from Toki's lips.

"Skwisgaar...?"

She felt tears wet at her eyes as Magnus took advantage of Toki's delusions then took advantage of Toki himself. As she shut her eyes and covered her ears once again, Abigail was convinced there was nothing but sordid, vile lust and an unquenchable thirst for dominance and humiliation in that monster of a man. But there was nothing she could do to stop him. He only had insatiable eyes for Toki. She could only pray now that the band would arrive soon and save Toki. The two of them were helpless like this.

Or so she thought.

It was the silence and stillness that once again caused Abigail to crack her eyes open out of concern. She was met with a confusing sight. Magnus was draped over Toki... whose hand was now freed from the knife. Abigail gasped and recoiled at the red glint stretching across the floor. A massive pool of blood had collected under their intertwined bodies. It only took a second to guess whose blood it was. Abigail felt in incredible happiness build up inside of her - she would have begun laughing with joy at Toki's surprising retaliation... if Toki hadn't looked so thoroughly traumatized. He was muttering something to the lifeless Magnus, holding him as if he were a dear friend who had just met an untimely death. The image was incredibly unsettling. How could he apologize to someone like Magnus after everything that had been done to him?

Toki drew in a deep breath and picked up the knife. Immediately, Abigail began to panic. He was completely out of it now.

"Toki, put the knife down," she coaxed, trying to draw his attention from the dead body in his lap.

He ignored her and brought the shaking blade up to his neck, pressing down with another slow breath.

"_Toki_. Put. The knife. Down." When he didn't move, she tried a different approach. "Don't you want to see your friends again?"

"But he's dead." Toki's voice was hoarse and weak.

Abigail bit the inside of her lip at the reply. "Your _family_, Toki. The band. They're on their way to take you home."

"Promise me... you won't leaves me too."

"Toki, I swear to God I'll be with you as long as you want me to be. Just please. Put the knife down."

He slowly did as she asked.

"Now... please. In his..." She hesitated knowing this may be difficult for him. "In his pocket. Get the key and throw it to me so I can come to you."

Closing his eyes, Toki dug through Magnus' drenched pockets. He felt cold metal and withdrew the key, dizzily tossing it to Abigail... slightly to the right and just out of her reach. She sighed and pushed her leg out, scraping it closer with her heel. By the time she unlocked herself, Toki had collapsed onto Magnus, unable to hold his body up any longer. Abigail tried to stand for the first time in weeks but quickly fell to her knees. Instead, she hurriedly dragged herself over to Toki, ignoring the blood as she crawled through it. She lifted him up and set him back against the beam, pushing Magnus off of his lap and grabbing the knife. She cut a strip of cloth from the driest part of Magnus' shirt and quickly wrapped Toki's bleeding hand to the best of her ability and used whatever remained to stop the bleeding at his stomach. Looking around the room, she realized despite being free there wasn't much else she could do besides hope the band arrived soon. She wrapped Toki in her arms, holding him close against her chest, and began humming the song he loved the most.

* * *

Abigail wasn't sure how much time had passed since joining Toki's side but it felt like an eternity until the door tore open with a thunderous violence much like an angry Nathan. She looked up, her heart skipping a beat in hope and excitement at the tall, bulky figure standing in the doorway. But her face fell and her hopes were killed as the Assassin stepped into the room instead. He trudged towards them, obviously looking for Magnus, and upon finding him, let out a deep, agitated growl. With a rough kick, he turned Magnus' body over until his horror-frozen face looked up at the ceiling.

"Useless piece of shit."

Abigail didn't have the time to close her eyes as the Assassin brought his foot down on Magnus' face with more unrelenting force than Magnus had ever managed to inflict. She flinched as her face was spattered with blood and brain as Magnus' skull was literally crushed underfoot. She quickly wiped at her face but refused to look at his remains. Watching it happen had been enough; she didn't want to see the aftermath no matter how much she felt Magnus deserved it. Taken from her thoughts, she was suddenly lifted from the ground and slung over the Assassin's shoulder. She hadn't even noticed the Revengencers that now picked up Toki and Magnus in similar fashion. Without another word, they left the room with their hostages.

Abigail resigned herself to fate now. Magnus had been nothing in her eyes, but this man was a wall of indifference and muscle. There would be no backtalk and there would be no escape... not without the help of the band.

They were brought to another room, not much different than the last save for the two wooden inverted crosses hanging from the concrete of the ceiling that remained intact. Through the hole in the roof, the night sky hung overhead, but the clouds seemed to glow red as the stars and moon cast an eerie brilliance through them. She passed it off as a simple trick of light, perhaps influenced by her recent state of mind. Just thankful she at least had been able to see the sky one last time before dying, Abigail was hung to the cross next to Toki in silent acceptance. The edges of the room began filling with mindless Revengencers, all of whom were ravenously eying the two as if they were being served up on a platter. Growing uncomfortable with their hungry, empty gaze, Abigail looked about the room, trying not to let the blood rushing to her head disorient her. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Toki had opened his eyes but there was nothing behind them. He was fading fast. She tore from his pained face and glanced around the room again in hopes of finding a door to monitor in hopes of a last minute rescue. She choked on a gasp at the sight that met her instead. The man carrying Magnus' corpse received a nod from the Assassin before throwing it down in the center of the room. Immediately, the people that stood along the walls swarmed the body like zombies on a freshly fallen victim. Abigail couldn't believe her eyes as he was ripped apart even further, eviscerated in seconds as each hand and mouth clawed and tore with an inhuman and voracious hunger. She swallowed hard, looking away, back at the door, back to Toki's reddening face. They really were going to be eaten. Possibly alive. She cursed herself now, seeing no way out. If only she'd let Toki kill himself, he wouldn't have to suffer again. She could have joined him shortly after if only she'd known what awaited them in the next room. The band wasn't going to get there in time, and even if they did, it would take a miracle to get everyone out alive. Abigail was beginning to lose her composure. Tears rolled down her forehead as she tried to block out the sickening sounds of teeth gnashing raw flesh.

And then the doors were nearly ripped off their hinges as they were torn open. Four silhouettes burst through and Abigail felt numb. She couldn't believe her eyes.

The next few minutes were a blur as they tore through hordes of Revengencers and lowered the crosses. Blood rushed away from Abigail's head as soon as she stood upright, supported by Skwisgaar as Nathan stepped forward to confront the Assassin. She turned her head to Toki, smiling wider than she'd ever smiled before. Barely conscious, she could tell he was struggling to process the events that had happened so fast, but she grabbed his hand and gave it a firm squeeze.

"You're safe now," was all she could manage as she wiped a tear from his cheek.

The clouds parted and the Doomstar shone down through the open ceiling, illuminating all in red. The six were engulfed in a shower of crimson lightning and Toki's eyes suddenly flash red. As he and Skwisgaar were lifted from her she fell to her knees and looked up in wonder. Everything had happened in the blink of an eye, but now she sat suspended in a moment of awe. She laughed to herself, the tears in her eyes finally overflowing.

These boys could even make miracles metal.


End file.
